Japan’s third-largest mobile phone operator will lower the
loan amount to 1.28 trillion yen ($13 billion) from 1.65
trillion yen announced in December, according to a filing to the
Tokyo Stock Exchange today. The Tokyo-based company raised 370
billion yen in bonds this month, including 300 billion yen of
1.47 percent notes due March 2017 for retail investors,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The country’s three megabanks -- Mizuho Corporate Bank
Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ Ltd. -- are the loan’s mandated lead arrangers, along with
Deutsche Bank AG, according to the Dec. 17 statement. The
facility was split into two parts, with the 250 billion yen
portion of the loan drawn down on Dec. 21 and the remainder at
the time of the Sprint acquisition, it said.

“The company succeeded in raising more than expected from
the bond sale,” said Nobumasa Mizutani, the chief investment
adviser at Japan Credit Advisory Co., a hedge-fund advisory firm
in Tokyo. “This brings Softbank’s direct and indirect financing
to a better balance.”

Softbank is ranked A by JCR, the credit-rating company’s
sixth-highest investment grade, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.